“Goodly Lord, what a wit-snapper are you!” (Merchant of Venice, III.v.45)

Photo Break: Red-bellied woodpecker

Birdblogbirdblogbirdblog…! Say it ten times really really fast, then check the story behind the photo below the break.

Red-bellied woodpecker

I found this little guy among a stand of dead trees in a swampy, sandy area around an access road to Sanibel Lighthouse. Lots of trees in that area that look like the one in the photo; ergo, lots and lots of woodpecker homes, many of them occupied. Pileated woodpeckers frequent the area too; some nice shots of those will be forthcoming in the near future.

There’s only a couple of hours in the day that I can rely on getting a decent shot of a red-bellied woodpecker. For some reason, they always position themselves between me and the sun unless I get out to where they are fairly early.

Not sure why they call these “red-bellied” when there’s only a tiny, tiny swatch of faded red waaaay down on the lower belly, down between the legs (you can’t even see it here). There’s far more red on the back of its head, but I guess “red-naped woodpecker” didn’t have that same flow, hmmm?